Take this delightful example:
There are few facts that could possibly facilitate the necessity of this information existing:
- The box is incredibly difficult to open, thus needing instructions. This indicates a terrible design flaw which should be well outside of Microsoft's domain of folly (stop sniggering all of you in the back)
- You suspect the people likely to use your product are completely and totally mentally vacant.
Either way you've insulted the people tasked with opening the box. You've done everyone a grave disservice.
On the same level, it is often not in your interest to give complete details to people you task with getting something technical achieved. From first principals comes understanding and many other useful things.
A non-technical person (they call themselves that - they don't let on how much they know) and a very scientifically minded person (who has also written code, administered systems and brewed their own beer) where I work subscribe to this idea in their own way.
The non-technical person favours provoking thought over prescribing action. The scientific guy favours proving you are correct as opposed to following a prescribed recipe. I'm slightly different again, but have adopted parts of both approaches.
In the theme of being profound through brevity:
Listen - Learn - Think - Question
It's rare someone has nothing to teach you, so listen. It's rare that someone's viewpoint entirely aligns with yours, so think and consider. And it's also rare (in professional life) that you have nothing to contribute, so question.
Simple really.
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2 comments:
Andy's summary for the easily distracted: "Allow morons to do things the moronic way, because they should be made to feel bad about themselves."
It is sad though when more effort goes into making the box pretty and prevents you from getting to the actual product therein. Makes you wonder if what is in the box is really worth the effort. The latest Simpsons DVD set had to be repackaged with instructions on how to take a disc out of the box for the purpose of viewing it because they are housed within layers and layers of packaging.
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Simpsons-Season-11-Box-Art/10740
And this is a release from Fox Home Entertainment, whose first Futurama movie, at least in the US, was the first carbon-neutral DVD release in the world. The Simpsons simply go by the motto, "the more plastic the better the show"!
I don't know about feel bad...more should be afforded the chance to learn from their mistakes.
Like listening to my jokes, or going to websites I cheerfully suggest for fun and profit...
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